Supporters of a casino in Dane County said they were surprised by the public's vote Tuesday to turn down expanding DeJope Bingo, 4002 Evan Acres Rd., into a casino by a 2-1 margin.
Casino supporters said Dane County lost out on millions of dollars of revenue and thousands of jobs.
\This was a great opportunity for the city and county and it's unfortunate that they won't be able to take advantage of it. But these things happen,"" said Steven Singh, a UW-Madison senior and member of Students for Fair Indian Gaming and Revenue Sharing Agreements.
Last year, Wisconsin cut roughly $8 million of funding to Dane County because of the state's deficit problem and $5 million of that funding was cut from human services in the county. According to Sharyn Wisniewski, spokesperson for Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, if the casino referendum had passed, Ho-Chunk would have contributed a minimum of $3.5 million annually to human services, and with another $3.5 million to the city of Madison.
""The public turned down the receipt of money, which is odd,"" Ho-Chunk Public Relations Officer Edward Little John said.
Ho-Chunk spent a record-setting $1.3 million on its casino expansion campaign.
""Truth takes a lot of money to get out there, and lies don't take very much at all,"" said Little John of the campaign.
For Ho-Chunk to attempt to put another casino in Dane County, it would need to receive permission from the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, as well as Gov. Jim Doyle's approval, which would require strong support from the public. Ho-Chunk representatives held a meeting yesterday to establish a course of action, noting they should reach a conclusion within the next few days.
""The compact that we worked out with the Governor mentions options that are still available,"" Little John said.
Doyle does have the authority to approve the casino without the referendum. However, Dan Liestkow, spokesperson for Doyle, said Doyle insisted the public would make the final decision on casino expansion. Doyle said he will follow the referendum, Liestkow added.
Wisniewski said a lot of people worked very hard for the citizens to have their say on this issue.
She said despite efforts by volunteers in support of the casino, the reality of public opinion remains.
""The citizens spoke, and they said that at this point they don't want a casino in Dane County,"" Wisniewski said.
